Sparrow Charitable FundSupporting the children of Chinese human rights activists as they pursue educational opportunity

Your donation is made through Humanitarian China, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

The Sparrow Charitable fund serves as an educational and financial resource for Chinese children and young adults under the age of 21 whose parents are human rights activists or human rights lawyers. The fund is a means to support each child’s current and future education expenses and pursuit of educational opportunity.Across China, human rights activists and human rights lawyers are the targets of official intimidation, harassment, assault and sometimes worse. While their parents work tirelessly to bring about a more equal, just China the children of activists are viewed by the state and government officials as collateral damage of the scare tactics, discrimination and hostility aimed at silencing their parents' protests and campaigns. Caught in the middle, these children and young adults lack financial resources and access to educational opportunities that allow them to take their education as seriously as they would like to.

We hold the mission of supporting the children of Chinese human rights activists and want to aid them in the pursuit of educational opportunity and fulfilling their aspirations.

2016 Sparrow Charitable Fund Recipients

Lan Yaxin and Bao Zhuoxuan are two of the first recipients of the Sparrow Fund. Each young adult will receive up to $15,000 to increase their educational opportunity and fund their education.

Lan Yaxin, 16

Daughter of women’s rights activist Ye Haiyan, also known as Hooligan Sparrow

Lan Yaxin is the daughter of women’s rights activist Ye Haiyan, also known as Hooligan Sparrow. In recent years Yaxin has been primarily raised by her mother Ye Hayian. This year Yaxin is in school and has been on the road, witnessing governmental officials or hired henchman threaten, harass, kidnap, arrest and detain her mother on several occasions. Pressured by local officials looking to dissuade Ye Haiyan from continuing her protest, Yaxin was rejected or denied from attending several schools.

Yaxin’s mother’s work went viral in 2013 for her protests against the case of six elementary school girls who were sexually abused by their principal. The day of the protests, which took place in Hainan away from their home, Yaxin was at home alone awaiting her mother’s return. Ye Haiyan arrived home the following morning around 9A.M. to a dozen men storming her door, harassing and threatening her. During this incident Yaxin witnessed her mother assaulted, illegally taken away by the police and detained without reason. During her mother’s detention, Yaxin was interviewed by reporters and suspended from school.

Bao Zhuoxuan, 16

Son of Human Rights Lawyer Wang Yu

Bao Zhuoxuan is the son of human rights lawyer Wang Yu, a key player in Chinese human rights cases regarding illegal restriction of personal freedom by government and law enforcement as well as activists’ cases. Bao’s mother’s prominent cases include Li Tingting, feminist activist arrested in 2015, and Cao Shunli, a human rights activist who died in 2014 after being denied medical treatment while being detained. The first time Zhuoxuan’s mother was detained occurred in 2008 when she was convicted on fabricated charges of assault and served time in prison.

In July of 2015, Yu was once again targeted by the government for her growing prominence on the internet and her reputation as a devoted Human Rights Lawyer. The government and state owned media targeted Wang for a smear campaign accusing her of falsifying her credentials and eventually arresting her, again on fabricated charges. Zhuoxuan was home at the time of the July arrest and shortly thereafter his father was also detained. Both Zhuoxuan’s mother and father are still being detained; he has been staying with relatives the last 6 months. Wang Yu faces up to 15 years in prison on charges of “subverting the government.”